Hong Kong stocks slipped 0.30 percent Thursday on profit-taking after a four-day rally, while investors were unimpressed after a closely watched index of Chinese manufacturing showed a slight improvement. The Hang Seng Index fell 70.79 points to 23,333.18 on turnover of HK$50.57 billion ($6.53 billion). The index had put on about 2.2 percent since Friday as last week's losses fuelled by concerns over the global economy eased, and traders had also been following a strong US rally.
A sell-off on Wall Street Wednesday sparked profit-taking in Hong Kong, which came despite the positive China figures. Banking giant HSBC said its purchasing managers index of manufacturing activity edged up to a three-month high of 50.4 this month from 50.2 in September. Anything above 50 points to growth in the sector.
The news came days after Beijing said the economy grew in July-September at its slowest pace since early 2009 - although it was still marginally quicker than expected. "Short term, investors seem to be in a 'good news is bad news' mood," Ryan Tsai, Asia equity strategist at Standard Chartered, told Dow Jones Newswires. "The PMI data show that China's economy is still expanding at a moderate pace. This is what the government desires to achieve, as they have been using targeted easing measures to stabilise economic growth. Hence, a slight pick up in PMI may be interpreted as no major policy support ahead."
Energy giant CNOOC slipped 1.58 percent to HK$12.44, HSBC fell 0.51 percent to HK$78.00 and Internet firm Tencent added 0.25 percent to HK$119.60. Ping An Insurance of China was also up 0.25 percent at HK$59.65 and China Mobile tumbled 3.19 percent to HK$88.10. In mainland China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.04 percent, or 24.13 points, to 2,302.42 on turnover of 140.6 billion yuan ($23.0 billion). The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 1.52 percent, or 19.98 points, to 1,296.05 on turnover of 152.3 billion yuan.
Analysts said high valuations led to profit-taking while fears over upcoming corporate results also weighed. "Companies are reporting third-quarter earnings intensively towards the end of October and those results are unlikely to be very impressive," Northeast Securities analyst Shen Zhengyang told AFP.
Sentiment was also hit by the launch of new share offerings from three companies, as well as uncertainty over the timing for the launch of a scheme to link the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, Shen said. Steel makers were among the biggest losers. Pangang Group Vanadium Titanium and Resources slumped by its 10 percent daily limit to 2.77 yuan in Shenzhen, while Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union lost 3.05 percent to 2.54 yuan in Shanghai. Railway firms bucked the trend in Shanghai after state media said China had sped up approvals for rail projects. Locomotives maker China CNR jumped 5.27 percent to 6.39 yuan while China Railway Erju rose 1.79 percent to 6.26 yuan.
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